This article aims to help users remove Ads by DNS-Keeper from Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari, as well as their respective system.

With this article we’ll be handling Ads by DNS-Keeper – a potentially unwanted program that shares many common characteristics with a type of viruses called Adware. The most defining of them is the fact the wild creation of advertisements and their aggressive presentation – these will load every time you start your internet browser or load a page/link while using it. Most commonly the Ads will advertise goods for which you have done recent searches, possibly also in shops you’ve visited recently as well. This is because Ads by DNS-Keeper is capable of scanning and reading your browser’s history and past search queries – a direct violation of your privacy considering Ads by DNS-Keeper is also able to send that data back to it’s creator. This reason enough should be good enough to convince anyone still doubting if Ads by DNS-Keeper is harmless.

Other dangers stemming from Ads by DNS-Keeper

Unfortunately the Ads created by Ads by DNS-Keeper are never to be trusted. At first it may seem like they offer insights into great deals, but if you make the mistake of investigating their options you’ll soon discover that much of what you see is actually a scam. Any purchase made also puts you at a great risk of losing passwords or credit card numbers to the practice commonly referred as phishing – when hackers try to get you to write those in unsafe environment.

Another potential (and very real) danger is Ads by DNS-Keeper trying to install viruses on your computer. Of course, this is never a direct process as Windows security is not that easy to beat. Instead the virus will try to use the all-powerful human authorization front door by tricking you into believing you are installing something else. Such viruses are often presented as free software – missing plug-ins, required video players or codecs, anti-malware or anti-virus programs to delete bogus virus infestations and more. Don’t allow this.

For all of the above reasons the best course of action until you deal with Ads by DNS-Keeper is to simply ignore it. Never trust it and never install anything it offers – even if your screen is filled with threats about something horrible happening.

Remove Ads by DNS-Keeper

Now before we begin the removal process there is something important you should know. Creators of virus applications like to tweak their creations all the time, even after releasing them, in order to make them harder to remove. This is usually done by adding extra layers, that require different operations to be removed. Ads by DNS-Keeper is no exception to this rule, but we got it covered. Our article is able to remove even the latest iterations of Ads by DNS-Keeper if you closely follow the instructions. However, this also means that soem of this could be redundant if you have been infected by an earlier version.

Run every step in turn and don’t panic if you don’t see Ads by DNS-Keeper listed for removal as described – if that is the case just move on to the next step.

Step 1: Enter Safe Mode

Our first step here is a reboot in Safe Mode. If you already know how to do it, just skip this and proceed to Step 2. If you do not know how to do it, continue reading:

For Windows 98, XP, Millenium and 7 Users:

Restart your computer. To be sure you don’t miss the time when you need to press it, just spamF8 as soon as the PC starts booting. In the new menu, choose Safe Mode With Networking.

Now we will remove Ads by DNS-Keeper from all of your internet browsers, because it infected ALL of them the moment it came in contact with your computer. Run steps 2&3 to do this and don’t forget to include even older browsers that are still installed on your computer, but you are no longer in use. Internet Explorer almost always falls in this category for people who use another browser.

Be careful, Ads by DNS-Keeper might try to create some sort of message when you try to remove it. The contents may vary, but ultimately it will present the installation of another program – another virus or just a renamed version of Ads by DNS-Keeper. Don’t fall for this.

For Internet Explorer Users:

Open IE, then click —–> Manage Add-ons.

Find Ads by DNS-Keeper . Remove it by pressing Disable.

If your Home Page is different from the usual, click —–> Internet Options>edit the URL box with your preferred search engine, and click Apply.

Open Safari, and clickSafari —–>Preferences —–> Extensions—–>Uninstall the malware.

Go to STEP 3.

STEP 3: Remove the virus from browser shortcuts.

Right click on the browser’s shortcut, then click Properties.

NOTE: We are showing Google Chrome, but the method is the same for all browsers.

Once you’ve reached Properties —–> Shortcut (on the band at the top), then in the Target type field, REMOVE EVERYTHING AFTER .exe.

Continue with STEP 4.

STEP 4: Uninstall the virus from your AddRemove Programs.

Hold the Windows Keyand R together. Write appwiz.cpl in the new field,then clickOK.

You are now in the Control Panel. Search around for Ads by DNS-Keeper and anything else suspicious-looking. Uninstall it/them. Also, be extremely careful. Viruses often spend one last ditch effort to trick you into installing more of their kind. If you see a screen like this when you click Uninstall, choose NO:

Hold the Windows Keyand R again – butthis time copy +paste the following and click OK:

notepad %windir%/system32/Drivers/etc/hosts

A .txt file will open – don’t touch anything there. If you are hacked and someone has access to your PC, there will be a bunch of other IPs connected to you at the bottom. This is what a hosts file looks like:

If there are a bunch of strange IPs connecting to you below “Localhost” you may be hacked, and it’s best to ask us in the comments for directions.

Open the Task Managerby right clicking on the Taskbar and choosing Start Task Manager.

Once it opens, choose the Processes Tab. Look at all of the processes in front of you and try to determine which ones are a virus. Google them or ask us in the comments and we will provide the best assistance we can.

READ THIS BEFORE PROCEEDING

What you have to do now is likely the most difficult and also dangerous part of the removal guide, but is also absolutely mandatory if you want to be certain that Ads by DNS-Keeper is gone for good. Be extremely careful. Doing this incorrectly can damage your OS or other programs significantly if you make a big mistake. If you are not feeling comfortable, we advise you todownload a professional Ads by DNS-Keeper remover. Additionally, accounts connected to your credit cards, or important information, may be exposed to other viruses you might not be aware of. Using an automated installer to search for them is your best and only option.

Right click on each of the virus processes separately and select Open File Location. Also, End the process after you open the folder. Just to make sure we don’t delete any programs you mistakenly took for a virus, copy the folders somewhere, then delete the directories you were sent to.

Move on to STEP 6.

STEP 6: Delete the virus from Regedit and Msconfig.

Take a look at the following things:

Type msconfig in the search field and hit enter: you will be transported to a new window.

Go in the Startup tab and Uncheck anything that has “Unknown” as Manufacturer.

Type Regedit in the windows search field and press Enter.

Once inside, press CTRL and F together and type the virus’s Name. Right click and delete any entries you find with a similar name. If you can’t find them this way, look in these directories, and delete the registries manually:

STEP 7: Optimize your PC after the removal is done.

We’ve prepared a short and sweet optimization guide, specifically designed for users who just removed a virus. It is completely free, you do not need to download anything, and it’s not very time consuming. If you are interested – How To Remove Guide’s Optimization Tips.